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Pope's decision not surprising: Abbott

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he can understand the reasoning of Pope Benedict XVI in deciding to resign.

"Being the spiritual leader and chief administrator of more than one billion catholics is an extraordinarily onerous job," Mr Abbott told Fairfax Radio on Tuesday.

"It's probably as tough as any job in the world."

It was not surprising that at the age of 85 the Pope would decide, "after no doubt much contemplation", that he did not have the necessary physical and mental stamina to continue.

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Mr Abbott, who studied to be a priest in the 1980s but gave up and went into politics instead, said he suspected that the Pope took into account the fact that his predecessor John Paul II stayed on in the job until his death.

"I suspect part of this pope's decision is the fact that he was close to his predecessor and did see the impact of a visibly declining pope on the functioning of the church," Mr Abbott said.

Pope Benedict was a "person of enormous character and deep integrity", he said.